Article

"Prcis-writing, Revision and Editing: Piloting the European Master in Translation"

Anne Schjoldager, Kirsten Wlch Rasmussen and Christa Thomsen

Meta: journal des traducteurs/ Meta: Translators' Journal, vol. 53, n 4, 2008, p. 798-813.

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 Prcis-writing, Revision and Editing:
Piloting the European Master in Translation

anne schjoldager,
kirsten wlch rasmussen
and christa thomsen
Aarhus School of Business, Aarhus, Denmark
asc@asb.dk

RSUM
Dans cet article, les auteurs rendent compte de leur exprience du module pilote Prcis-
writing, revision and editing (Contraction, rvision et dition de textes), qui a t mis au
point dans le cadre du European Master in Translation (EMT). Les origines, les objectifs
et les caractristiques du EMT sont brivement passs en revue. La mise au point du
module, inspir par le rapport IAMLADP de 2001, comprenait une tude exploratoire de
lindustrie de la traduction, tant sur le plan international que national. Ltude a t
ralise au moyen dun questionnaire en ligne, et a t complte par une entrevue
focalise de traducteurs-diteurs de la Commission europenne. Les rsultats obtenus
ont fourni des informations dtailles sur la pratique de la contraction, la rvision et
ldition des textes professionnels, et ont permis de dgager un ensemble de normes et
de concepts pertinents. Ltude a en outre contribu identifier les besoins de formation
professionnelle dans les mtiers de la traduction. La mise au point du module a impliqu
la constitution dune base thorique approprie et la mise en place dun cadre didactique
et pdagogique. Les valuations des tudiants sur un cours donn au printemps 2005
sont rsumes, et larticle se conclut sur des recommandations utiles pour lvolution
de la formation universitaire des traducteurs.

ABSTRACT
The paper reports on and discusses the authors development of and experience with
Prcis-writing, revision and editing, a pilot module developed especially for the European
Master in Translation (EMT). The background, aim and important characteristics of the
EMT are briefly explained. Inspired by the IAMLADP report from 2001, the module devel-
opment included an exploratory survey of the translation industry internationally and in
Denmark, employing web-based questionnaires supplemented by a focus-group interview
with translator-editors of the European Commission. Our findings generated knowledge
about professional prcis-writing, revision and editing, including relevant norms and
concepts. It also provided useful input on perceived training needs in this respect within
the translation profession. The module development also comprised selecting a suitable
theoretical foundation and designing a manageable course structure. Students written
evaluations of a course taught in the spring of 2005 are summarized, and the paper
concludes with the authors recommendations for others involved in university-level
translator training.

MOTS- CLS/KEY WORDS

European Master in Translation, prcis-writing, revision, editing, perceived training
needs

Meta LIII, 4, 2008

01.Meta 53.4.cor 2.indd 798 12/17/08 12:27:36 AM

 prcis-writing, revision and editing 799

1. Introduction
The European Master in Translation (EMT) is a new master programme of advanced
translator training that was developed by the Aarhus School of Business (ASB), Heriot
Watt University in Edinburgh, Universidad Pontificia Comillas de Madrid and
Universit de Mons Hainaut in close collaboration with partners in the translation
industry. With an academic but also practice-oriented approach, this European joint-
degree was designed to cater to many training needs that are not met currently by
national degrees or within available continuing education. The EMT was piloted in
selected modules during the spring and autumn of 2005, and the full programme
was to be launched in October 2006. However, due to an unfortunate lack of har-
monisation in European legislation that proved an unexpected hindrance, the uni-
versities involved have been forced to put the EMT project on hold for the time being.
Nevertheless, as the professional impact and the academic merits of the programme
are unquestionable, we hope that it can come into action once responsible politicians
have found ways to overcome legislative obstacles to European joint-degrees.
This paper reports on and discusses our experience with Prcis-writing, revision
and editing, a pilot module developed especially for the EMT. Section 2 briefly
explains the background, aim and important characteristics of the EMT. Section 3
explains our process of developing the pilot module. Section 4 presents the survey
that was carried out in order to gain specific knowledge about the skills and compe-
tences required by the translation industry within this area. In section 5, we shall
discuss our choice of theory and definitions for the module, and section 6 will explain
the aims and structure of the course that we taught in the spring of 2005 at the ASB.
Section 7 summarizes student evaluations, and section 8 concludes this paper by
offering a few recommendations and perspectives.

2. The EMT
The development of the EMT was initiated in the autumn of 2002 at the ASB, when
the overall structure of the project was developed. It was decided to establish an EMT
secretariat at the ASB and to appoint associate professor Karen K. Zethsen as EMT
programme coordinator. From the autumn of 2003, the programme development
was financially supported by the EUs Leonardo da Vinci programme and the Danish
Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation.
The main characteristic of the EMT is that it is to be offered as an international
joint-degree by a group of European university partners in close collaboration with
national and international partners in the translation industry. This means that
students are to study in an international learning environment, ideally giving them
ample opportunity to learn from and form contacts with a broad range of national
and international professionals.
An important pillar of the programme is that all modules are to be both aca-
demically based and professionally oriented. On the one hand, this means that all
modules have to live up to the academic requirements of a masters level programme
and must, for instance, involve elements of analysis and reflection. On the other, it
means that the intention is never to theorize for its own sake, as the focus should always
be on how best to help students acquire necessary knowledge, skills and competences
for them to live up to professional standards within the translation industry.

01.Meta 53.4.cor 2.indd 799 12/17/08 12:27:37 AM

 800 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008

In addition, it is an important premise that students possess advanced linguistic

skills prior to enrolment. Thus, as the EMT will not offer any language modules as
such, all successful applicants must document, by formal qualifications or otherwise,
sufficient linguistic skills. Specifically, students are required to document professional
competence in their chosen working languages (A and B languages) as well as
advanced all-round skills in English, if English is not one of their working languages,
since the language of communication in all generic (non-language specific) parts of
the programme is English.
Yet another strength is that all EMT modules are to be taught mainly by means
of distance learning (see for instance Talbot 2003), a format well suited for advanced,
flexible and diversified instruction of mature and independent students. In the EMT
programme, all students must be able to take control of and responsibility for their
own learning (see also Talbot 2003: 22), generally having to decide themselves when
and where to study, how to study and what to study. Module instructors will lay out
the framework, provide some of the material and offer feedback on work done by
students for the purpose of the module, but it will be up to students themselves
to make the most of what is offered and to draw up and follow their own plans
and targets, and they are encouraged to focus on and acquire knowledge, skills and
competences within their own professional interests (provided of course that this is
relevant for the module in question).

3. Module development
It is only fair to say that we could not have developed the module without the help
of others: on a specific level, once actual teaching began, we were pleased to find that
students were happy to provide input on their specific needs and that they compe-
tently selected and made relevant use of their own professional material; on a general
level, we were grateful for the input that we received from the translation industry
in various ways.
Thus, the idea for the module was first discussed at an EMT all-partner meeting
with partners in the translation industry. Our attention was then led to the Interim
Report of the IAMLADP Working Group on Training of Language Staff (June 20th
2001).1 Based on various questionnaire-based surveys, this report offers many inter-
esting and relevant observations concerning the practice of professional translation.
One specific observation was particularly interesting, namely that, while professional
translators are increasingly required and expected to perform translation-related
tasks such as prcis-writing, revision and editing, very few are actually trained prop-
erly to do so, and there is consequently a great need for high-level training courses
within this area.
We then decided to supplement this information with an exploratory survey of
our own, aiming to gain an overview of the practice of and conditions for prcis-
writing, revision and editing carried out by professional translators in Denmark and
internationally. In the process, we acquired useful data on the profession in general,
current concepts and norms, perceived training needs, and even suitable teaching
material. (See section 4, below.)
Subsequently, all this input was nicely supplemented by Lindsay Russell,
Knowledge Architect at SAP AG, Germany, and Martin Gatehouse, Head of the

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 prcis-writing, revision and editing 801

English Translation Section at the United Nations in Geneva, who kindly accepted
to act as guest lecturers in the course that we taught in the spring of 2005 and also
provided us with much suitable course material.
Since this was an entirely new module developed especially for a new, interna-
tional master in its piloting stage, our work designing the course of 2005 was natu-
rally rather extensive: the theoretical foundation had to be established, general and
specific aims had to be defined, and the overall structure had to be created and
adapted to what was practical in the circumstances. (See sections 5 and 6, below.) For
teaching purposes, suitable course material, including an analytical toolkit, practical
exercises and assignments, had to be selected or created and presented electronically.
Finally, when the teaching of the module had finished, the process and outcome had
to be evaluated (see section 7).
To sum up, the module on prcis-writing, revision and editing may be said to
have been developed by the instructors with important contributions from represen-
tatives of the translation industry and our students, as described above. Fig. 1 gives
an overview of the contributors (the translation industry, instructors and students)
and the elements that they provided.

Fig. 1
Module development

Professional background

Concepts & norms

Translation industry

General needs

Survey

Theoretical foundation
Instructors
Aims

Structure

Evaluation

Students
Specific needs

Material

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 802 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008

4. Survey
In this section, we shall explain the background, design and findings of a survey in
which we asked the translation industry for input to our module. As already men-
tioned, our investigation was motivated by a desire to take action on and qualify the
findings of the IAMLADP report. We found this part of their conclusion (IAMLADP
report 2001: 5) particularly interesting and inspiring:
The findings of the subgroups give cause for alarm []. However, they also provide
some clear ways forward towards turning the tide and offsetting the problems. It is
those that the WGT [Working Group on Training] would like to explore further. The
first course of action is for both IOs [international organizations] and, to a lesser extent,
universities to make a frank and honest appraisal of the situation, to admit their fail-
ings and to undertake immediate action.
In specific terms, our own purpose was to obtain more information about the present
practice with regard to prcis-writing, revision and editing, based on these ques-
tions:
1. How much time do organizations spend editing/revising and carrying out prcis-
writing and who do it?
2. In what situations are these tasks employed and what do they involve?
3. What types of texts and languages are involved?
4. Is there a need for training?
The target group of the survey was the translation industry in general, practising
translators as well as decision-makers. With the kind help of the Standing Committee
of IAMLADP, in September and October 2004, a web-based online questionnaire
was made available to a sample of practitioners and decision-makers within the
translation profession. This sample included members of IAMLADP (among others,
representatives of the EU and UN organizations), other large organizations, univer-
sities, the industry partners of the EMT, as well as international and Danish profes-
sional associations. We selected this approach because these institutions were readily
available and directly interested in the results of our survey and because they are in
close contact with potential students of our module. We received 18 responses: 10
from decision-makers, 7 from practitioners and 1 without indication of job function.2
We shall now take a brief look at the main contents of these responses.

How much time do organizations spend editing/revising and carrying out

prcis-writing and who do it?
All respondents except one (i.e., 17 respondents) indicated that they work with edit-
ing/revision, whereas only 7 indicated that they work with prcis-writing. The latter
represent large international organisations or companies. Generally speaking,
whereas revision/editing is performed on a daily basis, prcis-writing is performed
more rarely. The work (editing/revision and prcis-writing) is primarily done by
trained translators, but also by people with other educational backgrounds. Respondents
mention various job descriptions that include editing/revision: professional editors,
substantive experts, e.g. economic affairs officers. Some explain that editors carry
out revision and editing, whereas translators do prcis-writing.

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 prcis-writing, revision and editing 803

In what situations are the tasks of editing/revision and prcis-writing employed

and what do they involve?
Editing/revision is described as a task that is used in many different situations,
depending on the type of organisation/company. Our survey provided us with no
clear answers as to why this is carried out. The main aims indicated by our respon-
dents were:
To ensure that the text is coherent and logically composed;
To ensure that the text lives up to the standards of the organisation/company;
To check that the text or translation is correct;
To adapt the text to make it more suitable for its target group;
To adapt the text linguistically (amelioration);
To spar with, train or provide feedback to colleagues or freelancers (including
translators).
Both editing and revision appear to involve the correction/improvement of other
peoples texts. Some respondents seem to make a distinction between editing and
revision, reserving editing for the correction/improvement of original texts and
revision for the correction/improvement of translations, but there seems to be no
terminological consensus.3
As far as prcis-writing is concerned, there is clear evidence that this task is
primarily relevant in connection with meetings, conferences, negotiations and panel
discussions. A prcis is described as a condensed written version of an orally produced
text, which tends to be used for documentation or in connection with policy-making.
5 respondents indicate that there are guidelines for prcis-writing in their organisa-
tion, and 6 indicate that prcis-writing may also involve an element of translation.

What types of texts and languages are involved?

According to our respondents, subject areas are numerous. The texts involved are
described as: technical documentation/technical texts, legal texts (especially con-
tracts), policy-making texts, commercial texts, annual reports, website texts, course
descriptions, different kinds of reports and conference documents. Languages cov-
ered by our respondents are: English (17), French (11), Spanish (10), Danish (9),
German (7) and other languages (11).

Is there a need for training?

Respondents draw attention to some basic training requirements. First of all, stu-
dents/trainees should be given a clear definition of the role of the editor/reviser. As
it is now, they are more or less on their own, as one respondent puts it. It is spe-
cifically suggested, that editors/revisers should be taught not only to correct but also
when not to correct, depending on time constraints, aims and target group. Editors/
revisers must therefore avoid trying to be too clever or too creative, as another
respondent says. Secondly, people should be trained to adapt the text to the target
group/target nation (e.g., in connection with marketing texts, website texts, and
annual reports). Thirdly, respondents highlight a need for training within complex
legal, economic and financial subject areas to enhance editors/revisers understand-
ing of such texts. It is also important for them to have a clear understanding of the
purpose (and meaning) of the texts, and to know about specific target groups and

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 804 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008

the style required. Greater focus should be placed on the substantive aspects of the
work of each body and reading the background material on every issue, as one
respondent puts it. Another explains, translation must be placed firmly in the con-
text of an organization, relative importance of accuracy, speed and style according
to situation. Fourthly, there is a need for real-situation practice (for instance,
working with poor texts, under time constraints, etc.), which could teach students/
trainees to be more pragmatic about the task. Finally, respondents highlight a need
for training in note-taking techniques and in how to give and take critique.
The findings of our questionnaire survey were then supplemented by a focus-
group interview with the (3) translator-editors of the English Language Editing
Service of Direction Gnrale de la Traduction, the European Commission (Brussels
and Luxembourg). We chose to focus on a service within the EU for this part of the
investigation seeing that the EU exerts great influence on the development of the
translation industry in Europe and that it may be a potential employer for EMT
graduates. Our respondents were asked to tell us about the tasks of revision/editing
and prcis-writing within the EU.
The focus-group interview confirmed the findings of the questionnaire survey
with regard to the contexts in which these tasks are used, what they involve, the types
of texts and training requirements. However, though our interviewees emphasized
that there was no need for prcis-writing in an EU context (contrary especially to
what happens within the UN system), they also said that this may only be true for
prcis-writing in a narrow sense (a written summary of the contents of a meeting,
etc), as other official EU summaries (for instance of Directives) may soon be in
demand, in various languages. Finally, supplementing what our other respondents
have said about a growing number of challenges for the translation profession, our
interviewees drew attention to specific problem areas that translator-editors are
facing at the moment:
Editors/revisers are taking on new roles, which need to be properly defined.
Texts submitted for editing/revision are often written by non-natives, who have
other and more complex needs than native authors.
Consultation with a growing number of non-native authors is taking up more time.
Time pressure is increasingly hindering quality.
To sum up, our own survey confirms the findings of the IAMLADP report and
highlights the need for translators to be trained to carry out editing/revision and
prcis-writing, and it points out specific training needs of relevance for our potential
students. Our work with definitions, theories and literature for the module and the
resulting course design (see sections 5 and 6) reflect our interpretation of the results
of the survey.

5. Theoretical foundation
In this section, we shall first describe our process of finding suitable definitions of
the three concepts of the module. We shall then comment on our choice of theories
and background literature.
As there is some confusion as to the exact meanings of prcis-writing, revision
and editing, and as revision and editing are often used interchangeably, we found it
necessary to define explicitly how these terms would be used in our module.

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 prcis-writing, revision and editing 805

Prcis-writing is indirectly defined in the IAMLADP report (2001, Annex IV:

3):
[] it could well be that the universities are not fully aware of what precisely the orga-
nizations mean by prcis-writing, which is a very specific activity (drafting of minutes
and summary records for conferences and meetings) rather than simply summarizing
skills.
The subgroup that worked specifically with prcis-writing concludes that many
organizations do not employ prcis-writers, but that, for those who do (for instance
UNOG, UNHQ, IAEA, WHO, ITU), prcis-writing appears to be an important
activity (Annex IV: 1). Furthermore, it is pointed out that the major proportion of
prcis-writing is done in English. In view of these findings and taking into consid-
eration the fact that our focus-group interview did not indicate any apparent use of
or need for prcis-writing in the EU, we found that prcis-writing in the narrow sense,
as used in the IAMLADP report, might not be too relevant for potential EMT stu-
dents. However, based on our other findings that summarizing tasks (within the
same language or between languages) are performed in trade and industry in general
and that EU summaries may be on demand in the future we were quite certain that
prcis-writing in a broader sense would be more relevant for our students. For the
purposes of our module, we therefore adopted this definition of prcis-writing:
The summarizing of information contained in e.g., scientific papers, technical reports,
surveys, proposals, questionnaires, articles, etc. as well as the drafting of minutes and
summary records of conferences and meetings held by some larger companies and
organizations within the same language or between languages (i.e., summarizing
translation).
This definition was inspired by Russel (1988). While she herself is concerned with
prcis-writing in a specialized sense (a written text, of a prescribed length, that
accurately summarizes a longer passage), Russel (1988: 3) also mentions that prcis-
writing may be used in a broader sense:
[..] a summary of the contents of a document or series of documents, a summary of a
series of events, or a summary of the proceedings of a meeting or conference.
According to the IAMLADP (2001, Annex I: 5) report, translators in some organiza-
tions may be required to edit texts either as part of their daily functions or to balance
workflow. Thus, for instance, it is mentioned that the UN entrance exam for language
staff includes editing as one of various language-related tasks that applicants will
have to perform, in order to promote versatility and career prospects of language
staff. It is also mentioned that, in one organization, translators functions include
language reviews of originals, i.e. non-translation functions.
These findings are confirmed by Mossop (2001: iii), who points out that employ-
ers now often seek out translator-editors to perform both translation, revision and
editing tasks, adding that these may also be asked to carry out other language-related
tasks. Mossop (2001: iv) explains this development by the fact that translation is
becoming more and more integrated into the general text-production process and that
translation departments have to consider quality criteria relating not only to the tar-
get text as a translation (for example accuracy and language quality), but also to the
target text as a text in its own right (including for example content and appearance).

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 806 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008

The work of editors is described in the IAMLADP report (2001, Annex V: 1) like
this:
In general, the term editor is reserved for professionals who review texts submitted
for printing (or Web posting) and who can, often in agreement with the originator,
delete sentences or paragraphs which are redundant, irrelevant, unsuitable or contrary
to the stated policy of the Organization. An editor can also condense a text or modify
its overall style in function of the targeted audience.
This description of editing goes well with Mossops (2001: 166) definition of the
term:
Editing: The process of checking a non-translational text for error and making appro-
priate amendments, with special attention to making the text suitable for its readers
and intended use.
However, though the IAMLADP report includes some discussion of the task of revi-
sion, the concept is neither distinguished from editing nor defined. We therefore
decided to adopt Mossops (2001: 169) definition of revision too:
Revising: The process of checking a draft translation for errors and making appropri-
ate amendments.
As we see it, Mossops editing/revision distinction is both logical, readily understand-
able and in correspondence with what we have learned about practice: though there
is no terminological consensus, according to the IAMLADP report and our own
information (section 4), practitioners tend to distinguish conceptually between these
two activities.
To be able to perform editing, revision and prcis-writing, translators must be
familiar with concepts and methods taken from a broad range of theories, especially
text linguistics, genre theory, translation studies and communication theory. In the
following, we shall first focus on theories and literature of specific interest to each of
our three elements (editing, revision and prcis-writing). Then we shall mention
literature that we find relate to all elements.
As mentioned earlier (section 4), our survey found in particular that translators
who carry out editing/revision need more instruction in when to correct and, in
particular, when not to correct. To this end, Mossop (2001) proved extremely helpful.
Describing the work of an editor, Mossop operates with four levels of editing: copy-
editing, stylistic editing, structural editing and content editing. He also describes the
work of a reviser and discusses the revision function as well as numerous influential
factors, such as the difficult balance between the interests of authors, clients, readers
and translators and between necessary time constraints and quality requirements.
Similarly, easily applicable revision parameters, degrees of revision and actual revision
procedures are discussed. Mossop also deals usefully with self-revision and offers
valuable advice on how to give (and take) critique.
Prcis-writers must master methods and strategies of both semantic and linguis-
tic text condensation. The model by Kintsch and van Dijk (1978) on macro- and
microstrategies gives valuable insights into the semantic structuring of a text and
presents methods of semantic text condensation (deletion, generalisation and con-
struction). We chose to draw on this model and supplemented it by recent literature
on text condensation in a professional and more practical context. Here we found

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 prcis-writing, revision and editing 807

Bjrk and Risnen (2003) on academic writing and Gerson and Gerson (2000) on
technical writing particularly helpful. We also drew on practical guidelines by inter-
national organizations and companies introduced and provided by representatives
of the translation industry (see section 3).
When translating, revising and editing, professionals must be familiar with genre
analysis to be able to identify and analyse the communicative purpose of a given text,
the situational context, the conventions of the text as part of a genre, and the interac-
tion between these elements. In a translation context, genre analyses should ideally
be made of both source and target texts to uncover any cultural differences. Genre
analysis helps the translator or editor/reviser to choose appropriate strategies when
working between languages or transforming one genre into another. For genre
analysis, we chose to draw mainly on the model developed by Swales (1990), further
elaborated and applied to a professional context by Bhatia. See for instance Bhatia
(1993), which we found nicely operational.
Placing a text (including a translation and a prcis) firmly within the context of
an organization, deciding on the importance of accuracy, speed and style, and know-
ing whether to adapt the text to a new target group/target nation or not, the transla-
tor, editor/reviser or prcis-writer may find help in a broad range of theories on
organizational communication, organizational culture and intercultural communi-
cation. With regard to formal theories of organizational communication and orga-
nizational culture we decided to draw on Schein (2004) and on Cheney, Christensen,
Zorn and Ganesh (2004), who propose that we look at organizations as texts that can
be read or interpreted. The purpose of the intercultural communication element was,
on the one hand, to propose a procedure for analyzing/identifying the communica-
tive content of a message and, on the other hand, to propose a procedure for under-
standing the target group and produce a message. Cheney, Christensen, Zorn and
Ganesh (2004: 446) put it like this:
[] a deeper analysis of organizational communication takes one beyond the literal
content of messages to consider their context, their relationship to other messages, and
certain criteria such as effectiveness, ethics, etc.
In our search for an analytical model of cultural signals in text and image and of
how to communicate culture through text and image, we used a theoretical frame-
work of semiotic theories proposed by Johansen (2000).
Finally, to help students carry out a functional analysis of a translation task (in
our case, revision and summarizing translation), we introduced them to the basics
of Vermeers (1989/2000) skopos theory, drawing in particular on Nords (1997)
framework, as summarized in Schjoldager (2003).

6. Design
In this section, we shall offer some details about the general design, i.e., aims and
structure, of the course taught in the spring of 2005.
The general aim of the module was of course to help students develop their pro-
fessional skills as prcis-writers and revisers/editors. While also gaining an insight
into relevant concepts, methods and theories (see section 5, above) students were to
learn to work systematically and adequately with prcis-writing, revision and editing
at the highest professional level.

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 808 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008

After the course, students were to be able to:

demonstrate mastery of the skills of prcis-writing, revision and editing at the
highest professional level;
relate theory to practice while summarizing oral and written texts and revising/edi-
ting other peoples texts/translations;
demonstrate a critical awareness of appropriate professional techniques and proce-
dures involved in prcis-writing, revision and editing;
develop analytical skills using theoretical concepts and apply these to practical
problems in connection with prcis-writing, revision and editing;
communicate with colleagues and clients about issues related to their professional
work as prcis-writers, revisers and editors;
utilise and access necessary information from library, internet, database and other
relevant sources.
We shall now offer some details about the structure of the course, which was naturally
heavily influenced by general EMT principles (explained in section 2, above).
We decided that we ourselves would do part of the teaching, but colleagues would
have to be called in to act as instructors and supervisors in languages and fields of
expertise other than our own.4
Ten students signed up for the module. Seven of these had Danish as their A
language, two had English and one had German. B languages were Danish (two),
French (one) and German (one). Table 1 shows students language combinations.

Table 1
Students working languages

No. A language B language No. A language B language

1. Danish English 6. Danish German
2. Danish English 7. Danish French
3. Danish English 8. English Danish
4. Danish English 9. English French
5. Danish English 10. German Danish

The module started with an intensive introductory one-week kick-off seminar at the
ASB. The seminar included lectures, exercises (individually, in pairs and in groups)
and workshops with student presentations. It also offered an introduction to
CampusNet, the web-based platform of the ASB, which was essential to the e-learn-
ing session (see below), and it included an introduction to library and other electronic
resources.
This seminar was then followed by three months of e-learning (web-based dis-
tance learning), when students worked in their own time, at their own pace and in
their own ways on three specific assignments, one for each element of the module.
Throughout the e-learning component, students were to seek and get electronic
advice and feedback from their designated supervisors and fellow students. For each
assignment, students were encouraged to work with their own professional material
within a given framework. Many seemed pleased to do so, either for most of or all of
their written coursework. All coursework papers comprised a practical part (prcis-
writing, revision or editing, respectively), a textual analysis and a brief argumentative
essay.

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 prcis-writing, revision and editing 809

The course was finished off by a three-hour written set exam in computer rooms
at the ASB and by kind permission the Copenhagen Business School. Students
were allowed full Internet access, including access to CampusNet. In the exam assign-
ment, students were asked to revise a translation from their B language (best foreign
language) into their A language (mother-tongue level), and they were asked to write
a brief textual analysis as well as a short essay on one or more points of interest in
relation to the practical task (revision). The assignment was handed out to the stu-
dents on paper and was also made available electronically, in order for students to
be able to make their revisions directly in the target text. All students handed in their
exam papers electronically. Students final marks for the whole module combined an
assessment of their coursework (one third of the mark) as well as the results of the
set exam (two thirds of the mark). Table 2 sums up the general framework of the
course that we taught in 2005.

Table 2
General framework

Components Elements
Kick-off seminar Lectures
Exercises
Workshops
CampusNet introduction
Library introduction
E-learning session Assignment 1 (editing)
Assignment 2 (revision)
Assignment 3 (prcis-writing)
Exam Set exam (revision from B into A)

7. Students feedback
In the following, we shall summarize student evaluations. On a general note, there
was much satisfaction with the whole setup of the course, including the fact that
English was used as the language of communication for the generic parts of the
module, as determined by the EMT format. For the language-specific parts, when
communication could take place in any language, students reported that they were
happy to communicate with supervisors and fellow students in the languages that
suited them.
We shall now summarize evaluations concerning each of the three components
of the course, namely the kick-off seminar, e-learning session and exam.
Of the 10 students who signed up for the module, 9 attended the kick-off seminar.
(One student could not make it to the seminar, but followed the rest of the course.)
All students participating in the kick-off seminar seem to have enjoyed it very much.
Many students praise in particular that the seminar was interesting, well organized,
intensive and highly relevant for their professional work. They also liked that both
professional and academic instructors were actively involved. The fact that instructors
and students spent some time together outside the classroom (lunch breaks and for
dinner in town) is also mentioned as very positive.
Many students mention that a one-week seminar may be too long and too dif-
ficult to fit into their busy working schedules. The course material was appropriate,

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 810 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008

but could be less extensive, more focused and more explicitly linked to lectures,
classes, exercises (during the seminar) and assignments (during the e-learning ses-
sion). Some students say that they would have liked to know more about each other
and each others professional backgrounds both before and during the seminar. Thus,
the idea of asking students to bring and present their own work for discussion with
their fellow students could be used more extensively than was the case. One student
mentions that she would have liked more language-specific exercises during the kick-
off seminar (pair or group work) and that she would also have liked to work more
closely with her supervisor and other students with the same working languages.
This idea of including in the generic seminar more language-specific work (for
instance in groups) is well worth working on.
Eight students were able to attend the e-learning session actively. On the whole,
they were very happy about this part of the module. Many students mention that they
enjoyed and benefited from their correspondence with supervisors, though it took
them a little while to get used to the format. Some mention in particular that they
enjoyed pursuing their own interests by, for instance, working with their professional
material within an academic framework. The duration, organization and nature of
assignments seem to have pleased most students, and there is general satisfaction
with supervisors feedback and assessments. Some students mention that the poten-
tial of CampusNet could be explored more fully, in particular with regard to using
it more as an interactive forum for all participants.
All students who attended the e-learning session actively sat and passed the final
exam and thereby finished the module successfully. Whereas students tend to be
highly satisfied with the kick-off seminar and the e-learning session, most students
are only moderately happy with the exam format. Thus, the exam format was criti-
cized for its anachronistic nature (a written set exam) and unrealistic working condi-
tions. We have to say that we find this criticism justified. Since the e-learning session
encountered no serious problems and since those involved seem quite pleased with
the format, we can see no reason why an on-line test should not work just as well.
Such a test would definitely offer more realistic working conditions and would be
more in line with work done during the e-learning session. It could still be a set exam
with a strict deadline, but students, who in principle could reside all over Europe,
should be allowed to work at a place of their own choice.5

8. Recommendations
Based on our experience with the module on prcis-writing, revision and editing,
developed especially for the EMT, this final section comprises a few recommendations,
which may be helpful for others involved in university-level translator training.

The learning environment should be international

The EMT is of course an international degree, developed and offered by a group of
European partners. The main advantage of this is that students are given an inter-
national learning environment and will, for instance, be able to form contacts with
a broad range of national and international professionals. In view of the nature of
the profession, the international environment ought to be particularly recommend-
able for people who wish to boost their careers as professional translators.

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 prcis-writing, revision and editing 811

The focus should be practical

As already noted, the module was developed and taught with an academic but also
practice-oriented focus. Thus, for instance, it was important for us to obtain input
from various partners in the translation industry, to persuade representatives of the
translation profession to contribute as guest lecturers, and to encourage students to
make use of their own professional material in their coursework. We cannot recom-
mend this approach enough. On the one hand, it helped us to zoom in on some
specific skills and competences that our students would need in their professional
careers, and, on the other, it facilitated a beneficial and necessary dialogue between
theory and practice, which our students also seemed to enjoy.

The approach to theory should be application-oriented

Linked with the practical focus explained above is the fact that theory was always
discussed with a particular view to application. Thus, for instance, we prepared for
our students a kind of analytical toolkit in the form of syntheses, models and check-
lists, which we could use as a shared frame of reference throughout the module.
Naturally, such a toolkit should not hinder students own search for knowledge, but,
as it turned out, ours proved rather helpful as a starting point for theoretical discus-
sions and the analytical parts of students papers. Though the idea still needs devel-
oping, it is certainly worth experimenting with.

The setup should be flexible

An important advantage of the setup of our module was the flexibility that it offered
as far as time, place and contents were concerned: to a very large extent, it was left
to our students themselves to decide when and where they would study, and they had
much opportunity to pursue personal interests and even combine their professional
work with coursework. As we see it, this flexible approach is a key to the success of
our module.

Communication should be interactive

Throughout the module, but especially during the e-learning session, it was essential
that students took charge of their own learning. We therefore tried to keep traditional
one-way communication at a minimum and attempted to make our module as inter-
active as possible, focussing on making students think and react rather than on
conveying to them knowledge that they might as well acquire by reading the relevant
literature for themselves. We also tried to organize a few student-controlled activities.
In future, we may develop this idea further for instance by asking students to bring
examples of their own work to the kick-off seminar so that we can prepare workshops
in which they have to apply a particular theory or model to the analysis of their own
texts and problems. To be able to do this, students will probably need some instruc-
tion and a little coaching, but they will not need a series of traditional lectures.
Anyway, it is probably fair to say that the interactive nature of our module is another
key to its success.

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 812 Meta, LIII, 4, 2008

Personal contacts are a must

Though we may tend to underestimate their value, personal contacts in the student
group and with instructors are essential to successful learning: if students and
instructors do not feel comfortable about the whole situation and if they do not strike
up some kind of rapport and basic trust, communication between them risks break-
ing down, and this makes learning difficult. A module based primarily on e-learning,
where students and instructors do not meet in person on a regular basis, must natu-
rally take this risk into account. As we see it, a kick-off seminar with a considerable
amount of interactive communication and some social activities will in some ways
make up for the lack of personal contacts during the e-learning session: When they
know each other on a more personal level, both students and instructors will prob-
ably be much more at ease sending and receiving frank and to-the-point feedback
during the e-learning session. We therefore strongly recommend that e-learning is
always preceded by at least one intensive seminar, organized not only to cater to the
academic and professional side of the module but also to create a friendly learning
environment based on personal contacts.

NOTES
1. IAMLADP stands for Inter-Agency Meeting on Language Arrangements, Documentation and
Publications. According to the IAMLADP website <http://www.wipo.int/iamladp/en/ >, its over-
all objective is to enhance the efficiency, quality and cost-effectiveness of conference, language
and publishing services in international organizations (accessed on August 30th 2006). IAMLADP
participants include United Nations managers of conference services, representatives of European
institutions, other intergovernmental organizations and some academic institutions involved in
the training of translators and interpreters.
2. It may be worth emphasizing that the value of our investigation lies in the quality of the responses
rather than in their quantity. We are well aware that no statistical significance can be deducted
from our data. A similar method was employed in the IAMLADP survey.
3. This was later confirmed by Lindsay Russell of SAP AG, one of our guest lecturers, who informed
us that in her organization the terms were copy editing (original texts) and translation editing
(translations). (See also section 5, below.)
4. As already mentioned (section 3), we were very grateful for the excellent and practice-oriented
lectures given by Lindsay Russell of SAP AG, Germany, and Martin Gatehouse of the UN. We also
take this opportunity to express our appreciation of great work done by Birger Andersen, Martin
Nielsen, and Nick Wrigley, who willingly accepted to help us as course instructors and supervi-
sors.
5. Indeed, in the autumn of 2005, the ASB offered another EMT pilot module, Medical translation
1, in which students were given an on-line exam. This seemed to work well.

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